Biden Delivers A Foreign Policy Speech Palin Couldn't Even Dream Of

Of course even if Sarah Palin knew anything about geopolitics (which is different from geography Governor) she wouldn't deliver an eloquent and informative speech like Joe Biden did today in Cincinnati. As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Biden knows more about the world in his pinky than Palin could hope to learn in several years, let alone the time from now until the election.

McCain Chides Obama For Wanting Int'l Diplomacy

After hearing so many great speeches in the last two nights, it really makes me wonder how big of a contrast the RNC will be next week. Thanks to John McCain and his minions we've been getting previews with gems like his support of the song "Gasolina" which is about, well, um, just have a look for yourself. He probably doesn't know much Puerto Rican slang, so let's not fault him too much on that. Though when the issue is about international diplomacy and working with our allies around the world, when he lambasts Obama for the speech in Berlin about working together, that is as absurd as voting against Mother's Day.

Here's what the Maverick Bush's sidekick had to say:

My opponent had the chance to express such confidence in America, when he delivered a much anticipated address in Berlin. He was the picture of confidence, in some ways. But confidence in oneself and confidence in one's country are not the same. And in that speech, Senator Obama left an important point unclear. He suggested that the end of the Cold War proved that there was, "no challenge too great for a world that stands as one." Now I missed a few years of the Cold War, as the guest of one of our adversaries, but as I recall the world was deeply divided during the Cold War -- between the side of freedom and the side of tyranny. The Cold War ended not because the world stood "as one," but because the great democracies came together, bound together by sustained and decisive American leadership.

Never one to pass up an opportunity to sport his P.O.W. status, McCain uses it as an excuse to completely miss the point of Obama's speech and the broad appeal for our country to work with others in order to fight the battles in the world that we cannot win alone (which Bush has proven so well for all of us). He may have wanted to sound tough to his militaristic and overly hubristic buddies in the warmonger section of the GOP, but really, that speech just makes him sound like a go-it-alone schmuck intent on ruining our alliances around the world (oh now who does that sound like? Hmmm).

McCain can pontificate on what type of 'confidence' Obama showed in Berlin all he wants. Yet the world certainly saw that Obama is determined to reshape America's image as the bully into one that is an international team player intent on helping fight terrorism with all of our allies, not just by provoking more terrorism by going it alone.

Pirates And Emperors, Cut From The Same Cloth

Bush Looks To Do As Much Int'l Damage As Possible In '08

Watch out citizens of the world, George Bush may be coming to a country near you in the upcoming year. Two thousand and eight may be his last full year of being President (thank god) but it is shaping up to be his busiest when it comes to international travel. Bush has more than a dozen countries on his itinerary already and could add to it. The White House claims to be on a mission to expand alliances with other countries, but we all know he really doesn't give a flying rat's ass about other countries (or people besides himself for that matter).

The truth is that people hate him outside our country than within. Even though he is liked by less than a third of all Americans, people despise him far more anywhere from Europe to the Far East and to the south of us in Latin America. No one likes our scoundrel of a President. And why would any sane individual?

His foreign policy has decimated any type of goodwill exhibited to us after 9/11. Bringing war, occupation and conquest to the Middle East is no way to win over friends in the region or anyone that likes peace and harmony among nations. People expect tyranny from some countries around the globe, but certainly not the United States. World citizens have looked to us in the past as a beacon of hope, freedom and liberty.

Now all they see is a growing despot.

If anything comes from these trips, it'll be ridiculous nicknames for various heads of state that have the misfortune to meet our god-awful President.

Bush Mocks Political Dissidents

Our President, George Bush, enemy to all those that love freedom around the globe, is quite the spectacle. He trashes our democracy while claiming to embrace it. He says he wants freedom for everyone in the world, yet takes it away from his own citizens. Then when things go bad, he plays the victim card. Truly, utterly, hopelessly, pathetic.

From The Washington Post:

As he sat down with opposition leaders from authoritarian societies around the world, he gave voice to his exasperation. "You're not the only dissident," Bush told Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a leader in the resistance to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "I too am a dissident in Washington. Bureaucracy in the United States does not help change. It seems that Mubarak succeeded in brainwashing them."

If he needed more evidence, he would soon get it. In his speech that day, Bush vowed to order U.S. ambassadors in unfree nations to meet with dissidents and boasted that he had created a fund to help embattled human rights defenders. But the State Department did not send out the cable directing ambassadors to sit down with dissidents until two months later. And to this day, not a nickel has been transferred to the fund he touted.

Two and a half years after Bush pledged in his second inaugural address to spread democracy around the world, the grand project has bogged down in a bureaucratic and geopolitical morass, in the view of many activists, officials and even White House aides. Many in his administration never bought into the idea, and some undermined it, including his own vice president. The Iraq war has distracted Bush and, in some quarters, discredited his aspirations. And while he focuses his ire on bureaucracy, Bush at times has compromised the idealism of that speech in the muddy reality of guarding other U.S. interests.

Basically, Bush is a joke. His loyal friends in the White House even turn their back on his naive idealism about spreading democracy with brute force. Instead that brute force has created some of our most fearsome enemies, both where our troops are stationed at and at here at home. Our allies have grown frustrated with us and the masses hate George Bush, and have done so for far longer than the majority of Americans (his popularity dropped below 50% in early 2005).

At least we get it now, only one in four Americans approve of his behavior. His "dissident" status is one way to look at it. We all know that Bush lives in a bubble. That bubble happens to be in downtown Washington. Yet if he could look outside that bubble, he would see that he is not only a dissident in the capital, the antipathy is spread out from New York to California, and Oregon to Alabama.

Congressman Weiner Gets It With The Saudi Arms Deal

It's always nice to see a little reasoned and common sense approach to the world coming from New York. Congressman Weiner (D-NY) gave us a dose of that today by speaking out against the multi-billion dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other countries in that troubled region. Saudi Arabia is only friendly with us because of oil, but many citizens do not care about that (or their government for that matter) and want to do us harm. President Bush ignores this reality as the price of oil.

From WNYC:

NEW YORK, NY July 29, 2007 —The Bush Administration's proposed sale of weaponry to Saudi Arabia is being challenged by Congressman Anthony Weiner. The Democrat, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, plans to introduce legislation today to block the multi-billion-dollar sale, which would include advanced weaponry and systems to enhance the striking ability of Saudi warplanes.

Weiner says the Kingdom's support for the war on terrorism has been questionable.

The proposed weapons sales are intended to strengthen U.S. allies at a time of uncertainty in the region. Egypt and Israel are also expected to receive financial support.

I would personally go farther than just say their support is "questionable," but it suffices for a member of Congress. United States arms dealers and merchants of death are frothing at the mouth for these weapons contracts. Their friends in the White House are happy to oblige, but at least one Congressman has the courage to challenge the status quo of our arms exports, especially considering who the recipients are.

U.S. Foreign Policy: Everybody Should Kill Each Other

One of the biggest exports in the United States is death. It comes in the form of guns, bombs and all things military. The Bush Administration is a full-fledged supporter of this, and has recommended more than $20 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its neighbors to Congress. This is the same country that spawned 16 of the 19 September 11th villains that crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Why on Earth would we want to go through with this?

From The New York Times:

The proposed package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia, which includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels, has made Israel and some of its supporters in Congress nervous. Senior officials who described the package on Friday said they believed that the administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a significant increase over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.

But administration officials remained concerned that the size of the package and the advanced weaponry it contains, as well as broader concerns about Saudi Arabia’s role in Iraq, could prompt Saudi critics in Congress to oppose the package when Congress is formally notified about the deal this fall.

In talks about the package, the administration has not sought specific assurances from Saudi Arabia that it would be more supportive of the American effort in Iraq as a condition of receiving the arms package, the officials said.

The brilliant thinking in the White House is that by selling all these arms, the growing strength of Iran can be mitigated. Of course that doesn't make any sense. All it does is give weapons to countries that want to see harm come to us. They are flush with cash from oil sales and this is how we get the money back? Its completely insane and can only bring more chaos to the region and to our troops that are stationed there.

Countering the pro-Israel critics with weapons for the little democracy on the Mediterranean is also crazy. The only thing that will happen is that there will be more for each side to kill each other with. Why would we want to sponsor death? It's simple, the Bush Administration does not care about the consequences, but they do care about the profits of defense contractors arms dealers

The Price Of Peace And War

The difference between the two is astounding. The video below shows how funding the U.N. can make a world of difference. Congress needs to make sure that the United Nations can fulfill its role around the globe. Our foreign policy in the last few years has used and abused our military to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Money that could have been allocated for far better purposes.